We recently connected with Darla Hogan and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Darla, thank you for being such a positive, uplifting person. We’ve noticed that so many of the successful folks we’ve had the good fortune of connecting with have high levels of optimism and so we’d love to hear about your optimism and where you think it comes from.
At a very young age Dezmon had to learn to be optimistic… Dezmon came from a low income family where he had to look for the best in life however, life got the best of him and at the age of 15 he was arrested and tried as an adult in Corpus Christi, Tx and arrived at The Texas Department of Criminal Justice with the big boys… He made parole and was released at 30 years old with no day to day life skills. Dezmon quickly got a job and started making moves.
Darla was born into a family of entrepreneurs so being a boss is somewhat in her DNA… She went down a bumpy road and still knew there was nothing she couldn’t do successfully.
Dezmon & Darla met 4-6-2006 and shortly fell in love and within 10 months they got married and started looking forward…
They moved to Corpus Christi, TX in Dec 2006 and started a family…. (theres a lot left out here) but after Dezmon working at Kiewit Off Shore Service for a little over 9 years on his lunch break Darla told him to quit his job because his heart has outgrown working for someone else! They quickly came up with a plan in the 30 min lunch break and he went and told his lead that he was giving his 2 week notice!
In 2 weeks… Dezmon, Darla, their 4 children and Darlas mom found themselves at food banks and local charities needing help however, they never lost focus on their goal and that was to work for themselves! They started a lawn care business that grew into a property preservation business and they started getting contracts with the City of Corpus Christ as well as Ingleside, Portland and Rockport, TX.
They then decided to move to San Antonio,,, and then in Feb 2021 during a winter storm their house burned down and they lost everything however, they were very well known for their charity work and Savanna with BE FRANK 4 JUSTICE started a Go Fund Me account and in a short time they had raised over over 2ok from Go Fund Me and other people just reaching out.
They decided to move to Houston, TX and while homeless looking for a home they bought an 18 wheeler and its been on since!
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
Blackman Reign LLC is a brand that was decided in 2021 for a hot-shot trucking (originally) business, it was during The Black Lives Matter Movement shortly after the killing of George Floyd (a Texas Black man that was murdered by police in MN) my children (4 children from 5 years old to 24) as a whole wanted to let the world know Black Men had a place in this successful world. Blackman Reign LLC is a logo was drafted by our oldest daughter of a black man wearing a crown because he is our king, wearing a suit because the black man has a place in the business world and holding a briefcase in the right hand representing the “halal” earning and an umbrella in his left hand covering him which represents the covering of The Creator as well as his family. Since then we have exploded into Big Rigs purchasing one after another into a small 3 truck fleet.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
We had no knowledge of trucking however, we knew we were destined for greatness and as a family we were unstoppable by the Pure Mercy of The Creator, to say that is saying our first quality / knowledge was knowing that we had favor and our hustle and drive to succeed would be unstoppable. The best advice I can give is know your worth and rather lightly equipped or heavily equipped MOVE! Our work is never done and if you don’t let fear kill your drive. What’s the worse that can happen you fail? If you don’t get out there do to fear or the lacking mind set then you failed before you got started!
Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?
Our 3 younger children attend chess practice every Saturday in Houston’s 5th Ward neighborhood and there is a business man Percy “King” Creuzot (owner of Frenchy’s Chicken) who attends chess practice every Saturday with his granddaughter him and Dezmon were talking one day about running a business and he said I’m faced with difficult decisions everyday and sometimes they over-whelm me…. I give myself 15 min to worry or stress about it and that’s it… then I give it to God and work to resolve it and come up with a plan, That advice has carried us FAR! So, I would give you the same advice in every situation…, Don’t ponder in your fear, give it to God, ask for guidance and HUSTLE!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.BlackManReign.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/darla.hogan1
Image Credits
Keiera Jones
